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Mitchell Anthology
Mitchell Anthology is a platform video game co-developed/distributed by Nickelodeon Interactive Games, published by Nordic Games NA Inc. in North America and by Nordic Games internationally and developed by the canadian developer Blue Isle Studios for the PlayStation 4, Wii U and The Xbox One. The Nintendo 3DS version of the game was developed by Next Level Games (it was ported after it's home console debut). The PlayStation Vita version of the game was developed by Nickelodeon Interactive Games (It was ported by Virtuos during the PS Vita development). It was released in North America on October 7, 2013 and was later released in Europe and Australia on October 31. It is the first game in the ''Mitchell X'' series not to have a Japanese release, before the sequel [[Mitchell X (game)|''Mitchell X The Videogame]]. ''Mitchell Anthology is the fifteenth and platforming/beat'em up installment in the Mitchell Van Morgan video game series, the thirtieth in the main franchise, and is the first title in accordance to the Mitchell X series' chronology. The game's story centers on the arrival of a popular technological device (a parody of devices such as the iPhone and BlackBerry ) that puts whoever uses it under the control of the device's creators Genola and Marquessa, who serve as the stories' primary antagonists. Mitchell Van Morgan - protagonist of the series and only one unaffected by the device besides his spirit ally Aku Aku - must free his friends from the control of the device and put an end to Doctor Cortex's plot. The title received a generally mixed response, with reviews varying from version to version. The Wii and PlayStation 2 versions were met with generally positive reviews, while the Xbox 360 version received a mediocre critical response. Much of the game's praise went to the humorous cutscenes and dialogue, while the unadjustable camera and extensive use of backtracking was sharply criticised. The Nintendo DS version was received negatively for its dull and repetitive gameplay. Gameplay Mitchell Anthology is a beat 'em up game in which the player controls Mitchell Van Morgan and the Mitchell Cast, whose main objective is to explore their home, Ralieghopolis, and surrounding environments to uncover the mystery behind the "NV", a personal digital assistant created by the main antagonist Marquessa. Mitchell Anthology is a mission-based game as opposed to Crash of the Titans Chronology series's level-based structure, with goals being given by non-playable characters. Characters with exclamation points (!) over their heads, when talked to, give out important information that is needed to continue the story. Scattered throughout the world are special items that empower Crash in one way or another. Golden stopwatches trigger a time-limited nanogame which usually involves collecting objects or breaking things to earn bonuses. Mitchell's black western boots serve to temporarily power up Crash's kick attack and cause him to move faster, while the "Quad Damage" power-up can be used by Crash to temporarily multiply his attack power by four. Combat Crash can perform both a light and heavy-powered attack. He can also block, dodge-and-counter, or break an enemy's block. When he defeats enemies or destroys objects, a magical substance known as Mojo is released that, when collected, allows Crash's abilities to be upgraded. While small minions require only a single combo attack for Crash to defeat, larger enemies, known as "Titans", require more effort to subdue. Each of the unique Titans in the game possess a star meter that indicates how close they are to being stunned. When the meter is full, the Titan is susceptible to "jacking", meaning Crash can mount the creature and control it. While controlled by the player, the Titan possesses a similar moveset to Crash, although some jacked Titans can shoot projectiles. Besides having more health, the Titans controlled by Crash have a purple Titan Meter which, when full, allows the Titan unleash a powerful special attack. This fully drains the meter in the process. A feature new to the series involves Crash storing a Titan in his pocket and utilizing it when it is most advantageous. When Crash is riding a Titan, any Mojo collected goes to the Titan. If enough is collected, the Titan's abilities are upgraded rather than Crash's. Co-operative play A player using a second controller can join in the game at any time. The second player will initially appear as a mask floating around Crash. The mask can attack enemies by using magic projectiles. By pressing a certain button, the second player's character can exit and enter the mask. In the Wii and Xbox 360 versions of the game, Crash's sister, Coco Bandicoot, fills in the role of the second player, while a white-furred version of Crash known as "Carbon Crash" takes on this role in the PlayStation 2 version. Coco is not available for play until she is defeated in a boss fight, after which she is fully playable (though the player can choose to continue with Carbon Crash). This method of play is useful for overpowering enemies and collecting Mojo faster. Plot Setting The game is played in a free-roaming format rarely seen in previous games, although the DS version is played as a 2-D beat 'em up as a means of utilising the handheld's hardware to its greatest capacity. The opening events of the game take place on Wumpa Island. Crash's house is accessible here, and can be used by the player to access skins, concept art, enemy bios and cutscenes. Surrounding environments consist of societies inhabited by friendly Titans, including the Ratcicle Kingdom, the Rhinoroller Desert and the Sludge Junkyard. Other areas include the Evil Public School, attended by the main antagonist's niece, and Mount Grimly, where the evil mask Uka Uka is held. The final events of the game take place in the Space Head, a space station recycled from junkyard parts that is operated by Doctor Neo Cortex. Characters Nine returning characters from previous Crash titles star in the home console version of Crash: Mind over Mutant. The protagonist of the game, Crash Bandicoot, is a bandicoot who must defeat the main antagonist Doctor Cortex and free the Titans from the control of Cortex's new device. Aiding Crash is Aku Aku, an ancient wooden mask who can take control of Titans by entering their heads. Crash's genius sister, Coco Bandicoot, appears initially as a boss character under the control of Cortex's and Brio's handheld device. Afterward, she acts as a playable character during the co-operative mode of the Wii and Xbox 360 console versions; she is replaced by a white-furred version of Crash named "Carbon Crash" in the PlayStation 2 version. Crunch Bandicoot, Crash's muscular cyborg friend, also appears in the game as a brainwashed boss. The main antagonist of the series, Doctor Neo Cortex, is a mad scientist who plans on taking control of the denizens of the Wumpa Islands by marketing a mind-controlling mobile phone, the "NV", to them. Doctor Nitrus Brio makes a return appearance as Cortex's partner, aiding him in the development of the NV. Uka Uka, Aku Aku's evil twin brother, is the source of the bad Mojo necessary to take control of those using the NV device. Nina Cortex, Neo Cortex's niece, also appears in the game, having been transferred to an evil public school by her uncle. Doctor N. Gin, Cortex's demented right-hand man, makes a relatively minor appearance as a boss character early in the game. A number of small fodder enemies attempt to hinder Crash in his journey, much of them appearing in the previous Crash of the Titans. The Ratnicians, who previously worked for Doctor Neo Cortex, have since gone feral and vegetarian, and now work for the minor antagonist Doctor N. Gin. The Brat Girls, who previously worked for Nina Cortex, have betrayed her and now run the Evil Public School and supervise the Ratcicles in the Ratcicle Kingdom. The Doom Monkeys make a return appearance as employees of Nitrus Brio in the Sludge Junkyard. Two new fodder enemies make their debut in the game: the Znu, a group of small, warty creatures that inhabit Mount Grimly, and the Slap-E's, hand-shaped robots that share Doctor Cortex's memories and personal problems. Story (Worst Contact), American comics (Clepto Braniac), South Park (I'm Not your Buddy Guy) and Dragon Ball (Fists of Orange Fury).]] Social satire and the theme of consumerism are frequent sources of humor in the plot of Crash: Mind over Mutant, with the game featuring jokes about SUVs and the skyrocketing prices of gas at the time. The game's story is told through a number of cut scenes animated in 2D Animation with different styles, such as those of Dragon Ball, The Animatrix, and South Park. Crash: Mind over Mutant takes place a year later after the events of where Crash of the Titans left off. The Titans, free from the control of Doctor Neo Cortex, have spread throughout the Wumpa Islands and cultivated their own societies and towns. All seems well until a rejuvenated Doctor Neo Cortex teams up with his old partner Doctor Nitrus Brio to invent a personal digital assistant, the "NV", that can control the minds of both mutants and bandicoots by transmitting bad Mojo, forcefully siphoned from Cortex's former boss Uka Uka. Crash and Aku Aku are not affected by the device, but their family members Coco and Crunch, are soon transformed into monstrous version of themselves who seek Crash's destruction. After Coco is freed from the NV's control, the Bandicoots learn of Doctor Cortex's plot by accessing his blog, and decide to go to the Evil Public School, where Nina was placed by Doctor Cortex. Nina in return for Crash saving her science fair project, informs the heroes of Cortex's and Brio's alliance and reveals their location in the Junkyard, where Brio is recycling parts to create a new space station, the "Space Head", for Cortex and new NV devices. Crash and Aku Aku find Crunch and Brio at the Junkyard and manage to break Crunch free from the NV's control. After learning of Uka Uka's whereabouts from Brio, Crash and Aku Aku go to Mount Grimly, where Uka Uka is being drained of all his Mojo. After being freed, Uka Uka informs Crash that his voodoo bones, his source of power, have been stolen and given to six of the worst Titans on the Island, and tells them to go and retrieve the bones for him. When the bones have been gathered, Uka Uka uses his restored power to send Crash to the Space Head and Crash can enact Uka Uka's vengeance on Cortex. Crash engages in a fight against Cortex, who uses a mutation formula stolen from Brio to empower himself for the battle. Upon losing to the Bandicoot, Cortex throws a tantrum, causing the Space Head to fall towards the Earth. Cortex, having returned to normal, makes his escape from the plummeting Space Head, while Crash and Aku Aku brace themselves for a crash-landing on Wumpa Island. Crash and Aku Aku manage to survive the crash and reunite with Coco and Crunch as parts of the Space Head rain down from the sky. As the story ends, Coco tells Aku Aku that they're not going to help clean up, much to his chagrin. Development Development on Crash of the Titans began after the completion of Crash Tag Team Racing. The graphics of the Wii version of the game was one of Radical Entertainment's main focuses in the game's development, with Radical stating that the Wii has "a lot of horsepower under the hood" and expressing their desire to make full use of it. They also considered implementing a feature to connect the Wii to DS during gameplay, but stopped due to technical issues and time. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version got a few extra months of development time to improve its graphics before setting a final release date. While the game was being developed, the title's main character, Crash Bandicoot, became the new mascot of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's "School and Youth" programs in an effort to promote the battle against blood cancer. In a bid to further promote the game, a Hummer (with a Wii inside) was painted with imagery from the game and displayed at the Annual Balloon Fiesta in Bristol, United Kingdom. A "Monster Edition" of the game was released exclusively in Europe on October 12, 2007 for the PlayStation 2. This special edition of the game features "Making-of" videos, water-on tattoos, game hints, a cheat code list, and the game's E3 and theatrical trailers in multiple languages. Due to its "mild cartoon violence and language", the game received a PG rating from the BBFC. Audio To ensure that the audio does not become repetitive, Crash: Mind over Mutant features more than 8,500 lines of dialogue. Many of the voice actors from the previous Crash of the Titans reprised their roles, including Jess Harnell as Crash, Greg Eagles as Aku Aku, Lex Lang as Doctor Neo Cortex, Debi Derryberry as Coco, Nolan North as Doctor N. Gin, John DiMaggio as Uka Uka, Chris Williams as Crunch and Amy Gross as Nina Cortex. The role of Doctor Nitrus Brio is played by Maurice LaMarche, a newcomer to the series. Miscellaneous voices in the game are provided by a number of veteran voice actors, including Carlos Alazraqui, Rodger Bumpass, Grey DeLisle, Kathryn Feller, Quinton Flynn, Tabitha St. Germain, Tania Gunadi, Mark Hamill, Richard Steven Horvitz, Tom Kenny, Rik Kiviaho, Tara Strong, Lee Tockar, Billy West and Cedric Yarborough. The music of Crash: Mind over Mutant was composed by Radical Entertainment's in-house composer Marc Baril, who composed the music for the previous Crash Bandicoot games Crash Tag Team Racing and Crash of the Titans. Music Unlike Crash Tag Team Racing, Radical did not hire the composer of the music in the previous Crash games, the a cappella band Spiralmouth whose members Rebecca Kneubuhl and Gabriel Mann left to compose musical pieces to The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night and The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon from Crash's companion franchise Spyro the Dragon, to write the music for Crash of the Titans. Instead, they assigned the job to their in-house composer Marc Baril, who took Spiralmouth's work on the previous games as references for Crash of the Titans. Radical Entertainment has expressed its pride with some of the music featured in the game, such as Doctor N. Gin's polka theme. A 32-track soundtrack was made available on the iTunes Music Store on December 18, 2007. The music in the Nintendo DS version of the game was created by Nathaniel Papadakis. Voice cast To avoid repetitive audio, Crash of the Titans features more than 7,000 lines of dialogue, many of which contain references to popular culture, such as the film Brokeback Mountain. To achieve a natural feel for their dialogue, the voice actors performed all their lines three times. Many of the voice actors from Crash Tag Team Racing reprised their roles, including Jess Harnell as Crash Bandicoot and Lex Lang as Doctor Neo Cortex. Characters who were regulars in the series but did not appear in Crash Tag Team Racing were given new voice actors for Crash of the Titans. These replacements include Greg Eagles as Aku Aku, Chris Williams as Tiny Tiger, and John DiMaggio as Uka Uka. The DS version features full voice acting for cutscenes and in-game elements by some of the same voice actors from the home console version of the game, though some of the voice actors were substituted, such as Debi Derryberry in the role of Coco Bandicoot, and Nolan North in the role of N. Gin. Dingodile, who appears only in the DS and GBA versions, is voiced by Nolan North. To make enemies memorable on their own; Radical Entertainment scripted conversations between the enemy characters that can be overheard as the player approaches. Several voice actors provide the audio for the small enemies, including Tom Kenny from Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants. Adding to the game's numerous pop-culture references, the voices and mannerisms of some of the characters are based upon those of real people, including Mike Tyson, Mr. T, Jerry Lewis, and Peter Lorre. External links *[http://village.mitchellvanmorgan.com Mitchell Anthology official website] *Official website Category:2013 video games Category:3D platform games Category:Platform games Category:Comedy video games Category:Science fantasy video games Category:Mitchell Anthology Category:Mitchell X Category:Mitchell X video games Mitchell Van Morgan video games Category:Nintendo 3DS games Category:PlayStation 4 games Category:PlayStation Vita games Category:Xbox One games Category:Wii U games THQ Nordic video games Category:Nickelodeon video games Category:Nicktoons video games Category:Cooperative video games Category:Video games published by Nordic Games Category:Video games developed in Canada Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:Video games featuring female antagonists